


Summer Love

by Vulcan_Princess



Series: Love and Loss [1]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: College, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-11
Updated: 2013-03-11
Packaged: 2017-12-05 00:28:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/716792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vulcan_Princess/pseuds/Vulcan_Princess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spencer Reid is a 15 year old grad student at Caltech. Penelope Garcia is a 17 year old undergrad. Boy genius meets girl genius.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Summer Love

**Quantico, VA - 2010**  
  
Derek Morgan walked into Penelope Garcia’s lair and said, “Hey, Baby Girl, how do you feel about helping me play cupid?”  
  
“Who do you want me to set you up with?” Garcia asked with glee.  
  
“Nobody. I’m looking to set Reid up with someone. Pretty boy shouldn’t have to spend his whole life as a virgin,” Morgan said.  
  
Garcia turned around in her chair so that she was facing Morgan. “Well, then you have nothing to worry about. Spencer Reid is definitely not a virgin.”  
  
“You sound pretty sure of that. How do you know?” Morgan asked.

* * *

  
**California Institute of Technology - Pasadena, CA - March 1997**  
  
Penelope Garcia wanted to cry. She got her first test back in her linear algebra class. D-. She could write code better than most people in the country, but if she couldn’t master linear algebra, she was never going to graduate.  
  
She gathered her courage and headed to her professor’s office. She knocked on the door and was admitted.  
  
“Dr. Johnson, can I speak to you for a few minutes?”  
  
“Sure. Penelope, right?”  
  
“Yes. I’m in your linear algebra class. I’m having trouble understanding some of the concepts, and I was wondering if you could direct me somewhere where I can get help.”  
  
“There’s a tutoring center run by the math department. It’s staffed with grad students. I’ve sent a lot of my students there for help, and they’ve had excellent results,” Dr. Johnson said.  
  
“Thank you,” Penelope said.  
  
She called the tutoring center and made an appointment for the next morning. When she arrived, she checked in at the front desk. A few minutes later, her tutor walked out.  
  
She stood there with her mouth open for a moment. He was tall, with perfect skin, long fingers, high cheekbones, and gorgeous long hair. There was no way she was going to be able to focus on her math homework with that beauty in front of her. She cleared her throat and said, “Hi, I’m Penelope Garcia.”  
  
“Spencer Reid,” he said.  
  
They found a classroom and Penelope pulled out her math test. They went over the problems one by one, and at the end of the hour, Penelope felt more confident in her ability to understand complex math.  
  
“Thank you so much. Do you want to grab some coffee?”  
  
Spencer smiled shyly, “Sure.”  
  
They headed to a coffee shop and sat down. “What made you decide to study math?” Penelope asked.  
  
“I like how organized and elegant it is. There’s always a right answer, and it’s always discoverable,” Spencer said. He countered, “Why did you decide to study computer science?”  
  
“I got picked on in school. Kids called me a nerd and a geek. I took refuge online. There I was normal. It’s tough being so far ahead of the curve. I graduated from high school when I was 16. Then I started learning how to code, and I discovered how fun it was,” Penelope said.  
  
“You graduated from high school at 16? How old are you now?” Spencer asked.  
  
“17. What about you?”  
  
“I’m 15,” Spencer said.  
  
They chatted for a bit about what it was like being a child genius. Then Penelope looked at her watch and said, “I have to get to class. Same time next week?”  
  
Spencer grinned. “See you then!”  
  
Throughout the term, they met each week, spending an hour going over math homework and then spending an hour at the coffee shop chatting. In June, Penelope called Spencer and said, “I just got my final grade for linear algebra. I got a B+!”  
  
“Congratulations, Penelope! I knew you could do it!”  
  
“I couldn’t have done it without your help. Thank you so much, Spencer.”  
  
“You’re welcome. I’m going to miss you,” Spencer said timidly.  
  
“Who says we can’t still hang out? I would love to make dinner for you,” Penelope said.  
  
“That sounds great!”  
  
They decided on Friday night. When the time came, Spencer rode his bicycle over to Penelope’s apartment. He knocked on the door, and when Penelope answered he said, “It smells delicious.”  
  
“Come in!”  
  
He entered and handed her a bottle. “I know it’s customary to bring a bottle of wine to dinner, but since neither of us are old enough to drink, I brought sparkling apple cider.”  
  
“Thanks! It will go great with the spaghetti.”  
  
Penelope lit some candles for ambiance, and they sat down to dinner.  
  
Conversation flowed freely, and at the end of dinner, Spencer started washing dishes. Penelope said, “You don’t have to do that. I’ll get them later.”  
  
They sat on the sofa and Spencer said, “What are you doing for the summer?”  
  
“I’m taking summer classes, then I’ll go and visit my parents for a few weeks before classes start again in the fall. What about you?”  
  
“I’m teaching calculus and working on my dissertation,” Spencer said.  
  
Penelope scooted closer and said, “Good. Looks like we’ll get to have some summer lovin’!”  
  
Spencer blushed bright red. Penelope leaned in and kissed him chastely. Spencer kissed back and grinned. “That was nice.”  
  
Penelope blushed and said, “Yeah, it was.”  
  


* * *

**Quantico, VA - 2010**  
  
“We spent the rest of the summer dating and getting closer,” Garcia said.  
  
“You and Reid were college sweethearts? I never would have guessed,” Morgan said.  
  
“Why not? Do you think I’m not smart enough to date him? I may not have an IQ of 187, but I’m a genius, too, you know,” Garcia said defensively.  
  
“I didn’t mean to insult you, Baby Girl. You’re probably the only person I know who is smart enough for Reid. It’s just that he has an eidetic memory, and when you first started working for the BAU, I asked him your name and he didn’t know it,” Morgan said.  
  
“I’m not surprised he didn’t want you to know that he knew me. I broke his heart,” Garcia responded.  
  


* * *

**Pasadena, CA - August 1997**  
  
The phone rang, and Penelope answered it. “Hello.”  
  
“Hi Penelope. It’s Spencer. My roommate is going to be out of town this weekend. Do you want to come over? I’ll make you a special birthday surprise.”  
  
“Sounds great! I’m leaving Sunday afternoon to go to San Francisco to see my family, but until then, I’m all yours.”  
  
Penelope came over, and she smiled when she saw the table set with fancy dishes and taper candles. “It smells wonderful in here!”  
  
Spencer said, “Thanks!” as he brought dinner to the table. He had made chicken parmesan and a green salad.  
  
After they ate, Penelope walked down the hall. She saw a path of rose petals on the ground. She followed the path and saw that it led to Spencer’s bedroom. There were candles burning on the nightstand. She turned around and saw Spencer standing nearby, blushing.  
  
“You did all this for me?” Penelope asked.  
  
Spencer looked at the floor as he said, “We don’t have to if you don’t want to. I don’t want to pressure you.”  
  
Penelope kissed him and whispered in his ear, “I want to.”  
  
So they did.  
  
On Sunday afternoon, they washed and dried the lunch dishes, and then Penelope said, “This is the best birthday I’ve ever had. Thank you, Spencer.”  
  
“You deserve it, Penelope. You’re the most amazing woman in the world,” Spencer said.  
  
Penelope grabbed her overnight bag and said, “I’ll see you in a few weeks. I love you.”  
  
Spencer kissed Penelope and said, “I love you, too. Have a safe trip.”  
  


* * *

**Quantico, VA - 2010**  
  
Garcia looked at Morgan and said, “I broke his heart because that birthday weekend was the last time we saw each other until I started working at the BAU. When I went home to see my parents, they were in a car accident, killed by a drunk driver. I was devastated. I dropped out of Caltech and went underground to become a hacker. I sent him a note telling him not to look for me,” Garcia said.  
  
"You left him with just a note? Like his father did. Like Gideon did."  
  
"Yeah. I feel awful about it now, but I was in a really bad place at the time. By the time I was emotionally ready to try to get back in touch with him, I got arrested for hacking the FBI’s network. I never had the chance to make things right."  
  
“You seem to get along just fine now,” Morgan said.  
  
“Yeah. When I started working at the BAU, we had a long talk and cleared the air. We even went on a couple of dates. It never went anywhere, though. He’s special to me, the first one always is, but we both moved on,” Garcia said.  
  
“You two would have made the cutest baby geniuses,” Morgan said with a grin.  
  
A flash of pain crossed Garcia’s face, and a single tear slid down her cheek.

**Author's Note:**

> This is the end of part 1 of the series. I have two more parts planned, but they haven't been written yet. Part 2 takes place mostly right around the time Garcia joins the BAU, with one scene right after Reid gets rescued from the Hankel incident. Part 3 takes place at the end of the 7th season and ties up all of the loose ends.


End file.
